15 October 1999
(Republicans want moratorium on nuclear testing) (920) REPUBLICAN SENATORS WANT U.S. TO REMAIN LEADER ON ARMS CONTROL EFFORTS Despite the largely party line vote by Senate Republicans October 13 against ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), the consensus among them is that the United States should remain the world leader with respect to nuclear non-proliferation efforts; a nuclear test ban treaty can be approved in the future; and the United States should continue its own moratorium on nuclear testing. In press releases and public statements, Senate opponents of the Treaty say that although they voted against the CTBT because they saw it as flawed, they nonetheless support its non-proliferation goals, including its moratorium on nuclear testing. The 100-member Senate late October 13 rejected the Treaty by a vote of 51-48, 19 votes short of the 67 votes needed for ratification. The final vote closely followed party lines with only four Republicans voting for it. Senator Robert Byrd, Democrat of West Virginia, voted "present." Senator John Warner, Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said "there is no technical urgency" for the United States to resume nuclear testing. The Virginia Republican proposed that President Clinton appoint a bipartisan commission under former Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger to find a way to make the nuclear test ban treaty acceptable to the Senate. Since 1992 the United States has not conducted any nuclear tests, relying rather on simulated testing under its Stockpile Stewardship program to ensure the viability of its weapons. "We should continue our moratorium on testing," said Senator Thad Cocharan, Republican of Mississippi. "We should use all our skills and resources in concert with other nations to limit the spread of nuclear weapons." Senator Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, said "the world should know that this Senate remains committed to preventing the spread of nuclear weapons." The Treaty was not rejected "as a merely political act meant to embarrass the President," he said. "The CTBT would have harmed our nation, not helped it, and that alone is why it was defeated," he said, charging that the Treaty was unverifiable and unenforcable. Senator Bob Bennett, Republican of Utah, said in the end, the issue was "whether we should accept this deeply flawed Treaty" or reject it "determined to get a better product." Senator Chuck Hagel, Republican of Nebraska, who voted against the Treaty, and Senator Joseph Lieberman, Democrat of Connecticut, who voted for it, held a joint press conference October 14 to say that the Senate rejection of the Treaty does not mean that the goals of the Treaty have died. "We have come together today to say to anyone who will listen, to the American people and hopefully to people around the world, that although there are not now sufficient votes in the Senate to ratify this test ban treaty, that does not mean that the cause of nuclear nonproliferation died on the Senate floor yesterday," Lieberman said. The campaign to stop the testing of nuclear weapons and deter the spread of those weapons "we are convinced, is embraced by a great majority of the American people and, in fact, by their representatives here in Congress," he said. Lieberman added that he and his Republican colleague "think it's important to leave the door open to a return to the Treaty by the United States Senate, a Treaty that can be passed. "In working toward that end together, we will reach out to our colleagues and to the administration to see what changes might be made to achieve enough support to enable us to ratify a nuclear test ban treaty in the Senate," he said. Lieberman acknowledged that this will be difficult and said "it's not likely to be accomplished quickly. We don't have a deadline or even a time line in mind now. But we do want to signal to nations around the world in the aftermath of yesterday's vote that neither the American people nor the United States Senate are walking away from our responsibility to lead the effort to reduce the risks to the people of the world, including the American people, from the spread of nuclear weapons." Senator Hagel said "The question that we must now ask is, where do we go from here... And Senator Lieberman and I believe there are a lot of our colleagues who have the same feeling -- want to find some ways to move this very important issue forward. "It's important we bring some perspective to this, to understand the consequences of us not dealing with this," Hagel said. "And what is most important, is to deal with it again in a responsible way so that the people of the world have some hope that in fact the leader of the world, the leader of the nonproliferation effort over the last 50 years, the United States of America, is not abandoning its leadership. "I don't believe that's what that vote was about yesterday. Certainly when I voted against that Treaty yesterday, that's not what I had in mind. "So, whatever Senator Lieberman and I and our other colleagues who share our same feeling on this can do, we want to do it. It's open to how and when and where. But we feel that there is enough of an opening out there to be able to continue to move this forward," Hagel said. (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.)